KALKBRENNER : Piano Concerto No 1, Op 61 • Piano Concerto No 4, Op 127 (Howard Shelley · Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) (2005) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 41 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This release is part of a large series devoted to forgotten concertos of the Romantic era by British pianist Howard Shelley and the unheralded but very strong Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Friedrich Kalkbrenner was the top dog among Parisian pianists until Chopin and Liszt came along. He overestimated his own importance in relation to Chopin and Mendelssohn, and as a result he has suffered from a case of bad press in the history books. But Chopin, it should be remembered, continued to admire him, and Shelley makes a good case for his revival here. The chief attraction of the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 85 (1826), and Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 107 (1829), is that they effectively integrate deep virtuosity into a passable early Beethoven concerto structure. They are not like Chopin's concertos where the orchestra serves mostly to lay down a few chords and turn the piano part loose. Perhaps the more successful is the Piano Concerto No. 3, with its ambitious opening movement that sets up the piano exposition with a nifty solo cello melody; distinctly less so is the Adagio and Allegro di bravura, Op. 102, the very essence of empty display. One feels that Shelley, with his seemingly effortless facility, is just the right pianist for this music, which will certainly interest anyone wondering what kind of music Chopin heard when he arrived in Paris. James Manheim

Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849)

Piano Concerto No 1 In D Minor    (30:39)

Piano Concerto No 4 In A Flat Major Op 127    (28:17)

Credits :
Orchestra – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Piano, Conductor – Howard Shelley

KALKBRENNER : Piano Concerto No 2, Op 85 • Piano Concerto No 3, Op 107 • Adagio & Allegro Di Bravura, Op 102 (First Recordings) (Howard Shelley · Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) (2012) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 56 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

This release is part of a large series devoted to forgotten concertos of the Romantic era by British pianist Howard Shelley and the unheralded but very strong Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Friedrich Kalkbrenner was the top dog among Parisian pianists until Chopin and Liszt came along. He overestimated his own importance in relation to Chopin and Mendelssohn, and as a result he has suffered from a case of bad press in the history books. But Chopin, it should be remembered, continued to admire him, and Shelley makes a good case for his revival here. The chief attraction of the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 85 (1826), and Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 107 (1829), is that they effectively integrate deep virtuosity into a passable early Beethoven concerto structure. They are not like Chopin's concertos where the orchestra serves mostly to lay down a few chords and turn the piano part loose. Perhaps the more successful is the Piano Concerto No. 3, with its ambitious opening movement that sets up the piano exposition with a nifty solo cello melody; distinctly less so is the Adagio and Allegro di bravura, Op. 102, the very essence of empty display. One feels that Shelley, with his seemingly effortless facility, is just the right pianist for this music, which will certainly interest anyone wondering what kind of music Chopin heard when he arrived in Paris. James Manheim  
Tracklist :
Piano Concerto No 2 In E Minor Op 85    (32:58)
Composed By – Friedrich Kalkbrenner

Piano Concerto No 3 In A Minor Op 107    (24:11)
Composed By – Friedrich Kalkbrenner

Adagio Ed Allegro Di Bravura Op 102    11:03
Composed By – Friedrich Kalkbrenner
Credits :
Leader – Jun Yi Ma
Orchestra – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Piano, Conductor – Howard Shelley

CLARA SCHUMANN : Piano Concerto in A minor ♦ HILLER : Konzertstück ♦ HERZ : Rondo de Concert ♦ KALKNEBRER : Le revê (Howard Shelley · Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) (2019) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 78 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

You might be surprised, given the growing interest in Clara Schumann's music, that Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series did not include her sole piano concerto before the 78th volume. In fact, the work is not often played; it is a student work, a product of the composer's 14th year, and it's rather uneven, with a finale that's longer than the first two movements put together. Clara accepted help on the orchestration from her boarder, not yet husband, Robert Schumann. But it thus marks the beginning of their creative partnership, and it's interesting in other ways as well. Pianist Howard Shelley, who also conducts the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, makes the best possible case for it by placing it in a program featuring virtuoso music by Ferdinand Hiller, Henri Herz, and Friedrich Kalkbrenner -- exactly the music Schumann would have heard in her daily piano lessons. Some of this turns out to be well worth retrieval from the scrap heap of history: sample Kalkbrenner's Le rêve, Op. 113, with its unabashedly splashy march conclusion. But what strikes one about the young Clara's concerto is that she took little from this music, even though she clearly already had the chops to play it. Instead she is reaching for large scope and unusual key relationships, even if it takes her until the finale to really hit her target. Shelley and his Tasmanians continue their impressive record of clean, differentiated performances of a great variety of Romantic works, and that variety is the key point here. James Manheim  
Tracklist :
Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op. 7 (20:50)
Composed By – Clara Schumann

Konzertstück, Op. 113 (20:51)
Composed By – Ferdinand Hiller

Rondo de Concert, Op. 27 (11:25)
Composed By – Henri Herz

Le Rêve, Op. 113 (10:43)
Composed By – Friedrich Kalkbrenner
Credits :
Orchestra – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Piano, Conductor – Howard Shelley